New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE
Chapter 2 - STATE TRUST LANDS PART 24 CULTURAL PROPERTIES PROTECTION
Part 20 - RELATING TO CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE AND RECLAMATION OF ROADS
Section 19.2.20.12 - ROAD ABANDONMENT AND RECLAMATION

All roads no longer needed, as determined by the grantee or lessee and the commissioner, shall be reclaimed to approximate natural contours, unless, as provided herein, the New Mexico state land office elects to allow a road to remain based on recommendations from the SLO LUS. Upon reclamation all road improvements and debris shall be removed, unless approved otherwise by the SLO LUS. Reclaimed roads will have the roadbeds ripped, scarified and otherwise roughened as directed by the SLO LUS to ensure increased water infiltration and a properly prepared seedbed; and then reseeded. Parallel-road berms are to be removed and recontoured. Berms or gates will be used to block access to the reclaimed road. Water bars will be used on sloping surfaces and spaced so as to minimize erosion and control surface runoff. For reseeding, the New Mexico state land office will approve seeding rates and seed mixtures or approve site-specific recommendations. When possible, the New Mexico state land office will recommend such approved rates and mixtures, but will not require seed varieties in its mixtures which are not in common use in the area. Reseeding shall be planned and completed with a goal of revegetation consistent with local natural vegetation density. After a failed attempt to revegetate an area, a second reseeding may be required by the New Mexico state land office, but in no event shall such second reseeding be required more than two (2) years after the initial one. Reclamation responsibility of a grantee or lessee terminates upon acceptance of the reclamation of a site by the SLO LUS.